Inside: A Classic Wedding In The Cotswolds The Wedding Edition

The Story

The story of our wedding began when we met during the heatwave of lockdown 1.0. Our first date was a socially distanced walk in the Cotswolds – it must have been over 30 degrees. Matt turned up in jeans for a hill walk, which he managed whilst chatting non-stop – we still laugh about that today. Matt is an RAF fighter pilot so we really valued our time spent together when he wasn’t stationed in Scotland or overseas – I’m very proud of him, and he’s very supportive of my fashion label Coutille, which is my baby.

Three years later, Matt proposed on my birthday during a wintery muddy walk – without getting mud on his knee, quite a skill! We chose the rings together and as I wanted something sustainable, Vrai was perfect. My engagement ring is a 2 carat oval cut colourless stone set into a 24 carat gold band.

Venue

We are fortunate to live in an apartment within a 300-year-old manor house in the Cotswolds. It is a very special place that we are incredibly fond of. So we hosted the wedding ourselves, following a ceremony at St Mary’s Church, Bibury. We wanted to make use of the beautiful grounds surrounding the house so we were delighted to discover the incredible team at Original Marquees, who effortlessly hoisted a sail tent marquee with festoon lighting that mirrored the grandeur of the house itself.

Fashion

Initially, I had designed my dress under Coutille. However since launching our 24:7 Slip Dress the business has really taken off, so there had to be a last-minute change of plan.

The Bridal Room in Broadway were just amazing and called in from Europe the only readily available Justin Alexander gown in the design I’d chosen. I paired it with a Helen Martin veil and a beautiful pair of Jimmy Choos, which my sister found for me at a sample sale – they are literally one of a kind. I sewed a blue ribbon into the bodice of my dress as my something blue. Matt wore his RAF uniform so he was conveniently also my something blue – wearing his No.1 during the day and No.5 after dinner. Having his fellow pilots greet us with a sword party after the ceremony was so special.

Jewellery

A beautiful pair of pearl droplet earrings with a subtle diamond leaf detail mirroring the dress from The Fine Jewellery Company, and my engagement ring.

Bridal Party

My sister was my maid of honour and I’d always imagined us wearing the same colour. We were working on developing Anais, our bridal slip dress at the time, so we made one of these in Oyster which perfectly matched the warm Ivory of my own dress. Seeing her wearing it was a really special moment for me. We’ve just launched Anais in both Oyster and Ivory on made-to-order which is really exciting.

Before the wedding, I gifted Jessica a set of lingerie from our Better than nude capsule to wear on the day. This made the perfect gift as the pieces are designed to be both practical and pretty. I gifted her our strapless Clam Bra and a matching High Flyer Brazilian in Amaranth, which she absolutely loves!

Transportation

We were extremely fortunate to be able to borrow a classic Morgan for the day. The owners went above and beyond to get it over to us following some unforeseen complications. It arrived prepped with bows and ribbons, we can’t thank them enough.

Tablescape

Our florist Megan brought our Italian-inspired tablescape to life with beautiful potted herbs which we paired with white linen runners and an assortment of glass candle holders.

Food & Drink

The Cotswold Caterer created the most heavenly banquet table with locally-sourced produce from the perfect scotch eggs to warm pulled pork, literally no request was too big. Pony and Tap crafted the most exquisite welcome drinks which included fresh mint mojitos.

Entertainment

We absolutely DIY’d on this. Matt and I spent a long time compiling the perfect Spotify playlists.

Beauty Regime & Wellness

I love Oskia skincare products, especially their Violet Water range and Restoration Oil so these were essential. I did my own make-up using a combination of Nars and Hourglass products – I highly recommend the Hourglass airbrush concealer. Jade Rayner was our hair stylist and she was just incredible. We went for an up-do which I could let down into a more relaxed ponytail for the evening.

Favourite wedding gifts

We set up a honeymoon fund via our wedding website on With Joy. My sister also gifted us a Mr & Mrs Smith stay which we really loved.

Honeymoon

We did a pre-wedding honeymoon in South Africa after we got engaged – this was really special. We are currently planning our honeymoon for next year!

Advice

You don’t need a wedding planner to have a spectacular wedding.
Be really specific on what matters most to you, prioritise this in the budget, and choose your suppliers like you would your team.
Make sure you’re comfortable on your day – the last thing you want is to feel weighed down in a dress too big for dancing, so we designed the Anais to be effortlessly weightless in a beautiful duchess satin that doesn’t easily wrinkle.

The Anais Bridal Collection is available made-to-order from October 20th on Coutille.com